Vehicles generally include a sunshade that can be grasped and moved by a vehicle occupant up and down between an operative position that at least partially blocks the entrance of light, and an out of the way stowed position, generally against the vehicle headliner. As a minimum, a basic structural assembly for such a vehicle sunshade, excluding any decorative cover, must include a sunshade body capable of so blocking the light that can be movably joined to the vehicle by a suitable joining mechanism, such as a pivot assembly. It will be readily understood that such a sunshade body should be rigid enough to withstand the stress of being grasped and moved. The simplest structural assembly would be a one piece sunshade body of a uniform solid material, such as sheet plastic or rigid molded plastic, that was thick enough to be sufficiently rigid to be directly joined to the vehicle. Although simple, such a sunshade body would be undesirably heavy and expensive, and would not present a particularly comfortable feel to the occupant who grasped and moved it. A common solution to the drawbacks noted above is a sunshade structural assembly that incorporates plastic foam, which is lightweight, relatively inexpensive, and resilient enough to provide a comfortable feel when grasped. However, foam presents problems of its own. Foam is not inherently a particularly rigid or strong material. Therefore, sunshades incorporating it generally use it simply as a padding material, rather than structurally, providing the necessary strength and rigidity with other structure.
One common type of sunshade that incorporates foam has a generally flat, rigid central frame with foam padding placed on either side thereof. An example of this type may be seen in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,116 to Viertel et al. Another common type has a sunshade body with a central core of plastic foam reinforced by an internal peripheral frame of wire or other rigid material. An upper member of the inner frame is generally pivoted to the vehicle. Without the internal frame, the foam is insufficiently rigid to provide the sunshade body. A typical example of this type may be seen in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,411,467 to Cziptschirsch et al, and there are many other examples as well. A design that seeks to eliminate the internal reinforcing frame is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,405,969 to Creel. This design uses an external frame that folds into two halves symmetrically about its lower edge. An optional central core of foam is placed between the halves, if desired, for padding only. Since the external frame must itself provide all the necessary rigidity for the sunshade body, it could not be made much thinner or lighter than a sunshade body made of a single plastic sheet or one with a molded frame. An external frame of such thickness would also negate much, if not most, of the padding potential of the foam.